Felix Varela: Cuban Patriot and Priest

Today marks the death of Father Felix Varela (1788-1853), priest, scholar, and Cuban patriot. Orphaned at three, he was raised by his grandfather in Florida. He returned to Cuba at fourteen to study for the priesthood. Ordained at age 23, he became a seminary professor. He would eventually publish seven books on philosophy and social science. In 1821 he was elected to represent Cuba, then a Spanish colony, in Spain at the cortes. There he argued for Cuban autonomy and the abolition of slavery. He was forced to flee to America, where he spent the last thirty years of his life. In Philadelphia he started El Habanero, the first Spanish Catholic magazine published in the United States. He is widely recognized as the first to call for Cuban independence, through peaceful means. In 1826 Father Varela moved to New York, where he became pastor of Transfiguration Church, a largely Irish immigrant parish. From 1829 to 1850 he was Vicar General (the bishop’s second in command). He also founded several magazines, including the New York Catholic Register. In 1850 he moved to Florida for health reasons. In 1986 his canonization cause was introduced. The Vice-Postulator for his cause is a Cuban-born Bishop based in New York, Brooklyn Auxiliary Bishop Octavio Ciscneros.